First Feat of Strength for Beginners

I’m often asked by readers and viewers what is the best way to get started with Oldtime Feats of Strength, like bending and tearing things.

There’s one single feat of strength that I believe you should begin with…

First off, feats of strength require you to be able to produce tremendous pressure with the hands, so you should begin with something that checks that box.

Next, aside from being able to latch onto something hard with your hands, you also need to be able to make what you’re bending or tearing do what you want it to.

You have to be able to overcome whatever it is that you’re working on, so this introductory feat has to involve movement as well as the tension requirement

On top of all that, your first feat challenge needs to test you mentally. Often, when trying to bend or tear something, your mind gives up long before you hands do or your body does.

So you can’t just start bending paper clips or wire hangers. There’s gotta be some sort of mental challenge to it.

Finally, and I think this is something that a lot of new feat fanatics forget about, is there needs to be a low level of risk involved. This way, you don’t hurt yourself, and screw up not only your new hobby, but also all the other strength training and other strength goals you have.

For instance, it’s really easy to go overboard with steel bending, or pop something in your shoulder, because of the increased levels of strain.

As a bonus, it’s nice if the thing you’re starting off with is fairly affordable and easy to get, so you’re not blowing through paychecks and combing the edges of the internet trying to find some rare stock to work with.

So with all these factors considered, I believe the perfect feat for you to start out with is CARD TEARING.

Card Tearing teaches you not only about the application of force from your hands into the cards, but also how you can direct this force into the deck at various angles.

Once you learn this, it’s a much easier jump to bending nails, steel bars, horse shoes, etc.

Before you know it, you’re bending and tearing everything in sight!

While it may not seem so, tearing cards also requires mental fortitude, because it isn’t by any means easy, and you have to push yourself to complete the tear.

Finally, cards are available EVERYWHERE! From the local super market, to the various dollar stores, to ebay, casinos, and more – decks of cards are constantly at your fingertips.

For all these reasons, and probably more that I’m not thinking of, if you’re thinking about getting started with oldtime feats of strength, your best bet is Card Tearing, and I’ll show you everything you need to know in my ebook, the Card Tearing System

Thanks and all the best in your training.

NAPALM

P.S. If you’re not sure if you’re strong enough to start tearing cards, don’t worry – I got you covered with an extensive exercise index in my Card Tearing eBook Grab Your Copy Today!!!

Footage via amuricankb on YouTube

Above, you’ll see Dennis Rogers (who happens to be a Diesel Iron Master) and Pat Povilaitis performing prior to the Mighty Mitts competition at the Arnold Strength Expo from last weekend.

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Weekly Diesel Grip Feat Challenge

Card Tearing

I’ve been thinking of ways to make the Diesel Crew site more interactive, and I think I have come up with a cool way to do it.

Starting next week, we will have the Weekly Diesel Grip Feat Challenge. Here’s how it will work:

1. Every Sunday, I will post a video of a Grip Strength Feat of some sort. It could be anything from Pinching, to Support, to Crushing, to Wrist Strength, or anything else in Grip.

2. You will then have until the following Friday to upload a video of yourself performing the Feat.

3. In the video, you must say your name and state the Feat you are doing for the Weekly Diesel Grip Strength Challenge, Something like this: “I’m Conway Martin, and this is my video for the 5-10’s Pinch Lift for The Weekly Diesel Grip Challenge at DieselCrew.com.” Then you just hit the feat on film!

4. You must then hit me with an email with the link to the video. I must receive the email with the video link no later than 8PM EST on the Friday of the challenge.

5. I will post all of the videos that have been submitted here on the Diesel site. My goal will be to post all of the videos I receive by Saturday at 8PM, EST.

6. Viewers at the Diesel site will leave comments, deciding who has the best video and who should win a prize. Voting will continue until Sunday at 8PM, EST.

7. Whoever is voted “Best Video” for the Weekly Grip Strength Challenge, will receive a special limited edition Diesel prize. What is it exactly? You’ll have to take part in order to find out!

8. Videos can not contain anything that may be offensive to Diesel readers. Getting pumped up is fine, but you WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED if you use racial, ethnic, sexual slurs and things like this. We do reserve the right to disallow a video if we deem it inappropriate.

500-lb Axle Deadlift (Photo – Kevin Cronin)

I think this is going to be a very fun and interactive feature here at the Diesel Crew site. I look forward to seeing all of your videos.

            Two Hands Pinch

By the way, I’m not wasting any time getting started. The first Weekly Grip Strength Challenge will be posted here on the site on Sunday afternoon, January 2nd, 2011.

So get your chalk, and get ready to do some serious Grip Training in 2011.

Remember, the first challenge will be here this Sunday – don’t miss it!

If you have questions, please leave a comment below.

All the best in your training!

Jedd

Well, the long wait is almost over.

Next week, my new DVD, Nail Bending: How to Melt Steel with Your Bare Hands, will go live.

This DVD is 90 minutes of bending instruction covering Wrapping, Bending Techniques, Strength Training, and Injury Prevention.

You can basically wrap up and bend your first nail right along with me as I show you how it is done.

To launch this thing into the Stratosphere, I am holding a contest.

I want you to tell me why you want this DVD. Tell me why you should get one.

For every 50 comments I get between now and Saturday, I will draw a winner randomly to select people who will get a free copy of the DVD.

I will announce the winners on Saturday, so when you post below make sure to include your valid email address, so I can contact you.

I am also including Facebook comments on this as well, so if you want to post there, you can do so here = > Jedd’s Facebook Page.

I have helped hundreds if not thousands of people learn to bend through my articles and my ebooks. Now I want to help even more by showing them myself.

In addition to this contest, the people who get the first shot at this DVD for a special price are the ones signed up for my Bending Newsletter. To go get signed up now, click on the banner below.

If you don’t win the contest, there will be here an announcement here on the site when the DVD is LIVE.

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, and all the best to you and your family!

Jedd

I’m still pretty new to the nail bending game. Before I started nail bending, I would watch loads of videos of other people bending pieces of steel, and was filled at first with disbelief and eventually fascination. That’s how it works. It draws you in. That’s why people refer to it as the addiction. There is something mystifying about taking a perfectly good piece of steel and demolishing it with your bare hands. Once you bend your first nail, there is no turning back…

There is a lot to learn when getting started though. You can’t (and shouldn’t) just pick up any piece of steel you can find and try to bend it. As a beginner, there are lots of things you need to know. The differences between pieces of steel, what to start with, how to progress and how to correctly bend are just a few of the things you need to know before even picking up your first nail. If you have never been in a gym before, you wouldn’t just walk in and try to bang out deadlifts would you? Steel bending is no different. You need to know proper intensity (what stock to use), frequency (you can’t just do hard bends every day), and technique, (more…)

I hope you’re doing great!

I just saw this on YouTube and had to post it here for everybody’s enjoyment. I think you are going to laugh your ass off.   (Thanks for sending it over, Dan)

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